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The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I)
The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I) is the twelfth episode of Season 3 and the overall thirty-eighth episode of The Venture Bros. It is the middle part of the multi-episode third season finale. Although ostensibly the first half of a two-part story, the episode continues directly from the end of ''ORB'', and the show's writers acknowledged that the finale could be considered a three-parter. When the episode debuted on the Adult Swim website on August 15, 2008, it included a brief prologue involving the Monarch which was not in the broadcast version. It was intended to be included on the wikipedia:DVD, but the scene was accidentally omitted. Jackson Publick has stated that he's trying to find a way to make the scene available for free online. Plot The murderous Moppets have abducted Dean and Hank, while The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch stand by. Brock Samson attacks The Monarch, who decapitates Brock with his wings; while Henchman 21 mutinies and is embraced by Dr. Girlfriend. This is then revealed to be no more than a holodeck-type simulation to prepare for an attack on the Venture Compound. This scene was not included in the broadcast version of the episode. In the Venture Compound, Brock instructs the Venture family to leave him and go to Spider-Skull Island, to protect them from O.S.I. agents that want Brock dead. As they prepare to leave, Molotov Cocktease and her all-female hit squad, The Black Hearts, appear. Molotov describes the three assassins O.S.I. hired to kill Brock. One is Heinrich "Herr Trigger" Triggermensch, an East German bi-athlete who gets sexual pleasure from finishing off his victims. The second is Russell "Go-Fish" Sturgeon, a specialist in maritime assassinations. The third is Jean-Claude Le Tueur, a big-game hunter who enjoys Silver-Age comics and exotic weapons. At Nightin' Ale's strip club, Hunter Gathers confirms that O.S.I. is trying to kill Brock and provides him with a list of ex-O.S.I. contacts and keys to Gathers' car. As Brock leaves the strip club, he's attacked by Herr Trigger. Brock convinces Dr. Venture and Dean to depart on the X-1, but Hank stows away in the car provided by Hunter. A high-speed chase and vehicular battle ensue, which ends when the Ventures' emergency ejection seats land on and kill Herr Trigger. The Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Henchman 21, Henchman 24, and the two moppets are searching the Venture compound but find it empty except for a distraught Sergeant Hatred in the bathroom. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch attempts to console him; Hatred believes his wife is going to leave him. Brock visits two former O.S.I. agents named Shore Leave and Mile High, who have started a Scuba-based Bible Camp and changed their code names to "Holy Diver" and "Sky Pilot". While Brock asks them for help, he is attacked by Go-Fish who entangles Brock in fishing line and drags Brock behind his motorboat. As Holy Diver and Sky Pilot gear up to help, Go-Fish throws chum onto Brock to attract sharks. Brock subdues a shark and then leaves his shirt and hair attached to the dead shark as a decoy. Using fishing line and two buoys, Brock rigs the shark so that it decapitates Go-Fish. As he puts on the assassin's fishing hat, Brock, in rare form, recites a Bible verse (Psalm 140:7 "O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle"). Brock escorts everyone to a hotel room in Los Angeles. After Brock leaves to collect supplies, Hank strikes up a conversation with a man who turns out to be Le Tueur. Brock reappears and they begin to battle. Le Tueur is almost victorious, but Brock eventually slices him in half with his own discarded sword. Brock tells Hank to look through the list of contacts and call "The Cleaner" to dispose of Le Tueur's corpse. Moments later, two officers from the L.A.P.D. burst through the door and hold everyone at gunpoint. Meanwhile, at the X-1, The Cocoon hovers overhead as H.E.L.P.eR. whistles in apprehension. Episode Cast * [[wikipedia:James_Urbaniak|'James Urbaniak']]: Dr. Venture * [[wikipedia:Patrick_Warburton|'Patrick Warburton']]: Brock Samson * [[wikipedia:Michael_Sinterniklaas|'Mike Sinterniklaas']]: Dean Venture * [[Doc Hammer|'Doc Hammer']]: Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Henchman 21, Kevin Moppet, Shore Leave/Holy Diver, Go-Fish * [[Chris McCulloch|'Chris McCulloch']]: Hank Venture, The Monarch, Henchman 24, Tim-Tom Moppet, Sgt. Hatred, Hunter Gathers, Herr Trigger, Le Tueur, Mile High/Sky Pilot * [[wikipedia:Mia_Barron|'Mia Barron']]: Molotov Cocktease * Soul-Bot: H.E.L.P.eR. First Appearances * Heinrich "Herr Trigger" Triggermensch * Holy Diver (previously Shore Leave) * Jean-Claude Le Tueur * Russell "Go-Fish" Sturgeon * Sky Pilot (previously Mile High) Connections to Other Episodes [[ORB|''ORB]] * Brock Samson begins this episode by dismantling his car, which had attacked him at the end of the previous episode. ''[[The Invisible Hand of Fate|'The Invisible Hand of Fate']] * Mile High and Shore Leave first appeared in an O.S.I. flashback in the episode The Invisible Hand of Fate. Cultural References [[wikipedia:Aquaman|'Aquaman']] * Go-Fish's costume resembles that of DC Comics superhero Aquaman. [[wikipedia:Batman|'Batman']] * Hank's love of the Dark Knight is reaffirmed when he and Le Tueur bond over a Batman towel. [[wikipedia:Batroc the Leaper|'Batroc the Leaper']] * Le Tueur's stereotypical accent is strongly suggestive of the Marvel Comics character Batroc the Leaper, a French mercenary. [[wikipedia:Bibleman|''Bibleman]]' (1995-2010)' * This set of armor and weapons from Ephesians is used by evangelical superhero Bibleman in the series of the same name. Shore Leave dons said armor in a very similar fashion to the hero. [[wikipedia:Damien Hirst|'Damien Hirst']] * When Brock tells the boys to contact "The Cleaner", the code-word he uses to describe the situation is "Damien Hirst", an artist known for working with dead animals, sliced cleanly in half in a manner similar to Le Tueur. [[wikipedia:Ephesians|'Ephesians']] * "The Armor of God" is an extended metaphor in the Bible, consisting of the Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Sandals of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, as listed in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians 6:10-18. Sky Pilot even says "Initiating Ephesians Sequence". [[wikipedia:Gary Busey|'Gary Busey']] * Twice in the episode, Brock uses Gary Busey as the reasoning for people needing to buckle up. Busey was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident (not a car crash) in 1988, a result of not wearing a helmet. ''[[wikipedia:Holy Diver (song)|'Holy Diver']]' (1983)' * Holy Diver, which is Shore Leave's alias, is the name of a song and the debut album by the American heavy metal band Dio. [[wikipedia:Jaws (film)|'Jaws']]' (1975)' * Go-Fish's face and voice appear to be modeled on the professional shark hunter Quint from the 1975 film Jaws. [[wikipedia:Jensen Interceptor|'Jensen Interceptor']] * The car Brock acquires from Hunter Gathers is a highly modified Jensen Interceptor, '70s British Grand Tourer and "Gentleman's express". [[wikipedia:Klaus Kinski|'Klaus Kinski']] * Herr Trigger's appearance and mannerisms are based on those of German actor Klaus Kinski, while his dress and style (as stated in his dossier) are influenced by German Industrial bands such as Rammstein. [[wikipedia:Kraven the Hunter|'Kraven the Hunter']] * Le Tueur's costume and backstory are both strongly based on Kraven the Hunter from Marvel Comics, with the main difference being that Le Tueur is French while Kraven was Russian. * Kraven was created during the Silver Age of Comic Books, the era that Le Tueur collects. [[wikipedia:Lassie (1954 TV series)|'Lassie']]' (1954-1973)' * Brock tries to get Hank and Dean to leave him by saying he's never loved them. Hank later refers to this as "the Lassie trick." [[wikipedia:Lethal Weapon|''Lethal Weapon]]' (1987)' * The officers that burst through the door are reminiscent of the typical L.A.P.D. cops portrayed in '80s movies such as Lethal Weapon, with one strongly resembling a young Mel Gibson, and both sporting mullets. [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tueur '''Le Tueur'] * "Le Tueur" is French for "The Killer". [[wikipedia:Mr. Clean|'Mr. Clean']] * The character "The Cleaner" is an obvious parody of cleaning product cartoon mascot Mr. Clean, from his recognizable bald head and white clothing to his acid sprayers which "leaves a pleasant odor that smells faintly of lemons". [[wikipedia:San Diego Comic-Con|'San Diego Comic-Con']] * When Le Tueur's O.S.I. file is shown, his "last known location" is listed as Comic-Con. * When Brock discovers Hank with Le Tueur, he asks Hank if Le Tueur hurt him. Hank replies, "No, he's cool, Brock. We're gonna go to Comic-Con together!" [[wikipedia:Silver Age of Comic Books|'Silver Age of Comic Books']] * Le Tueur is described as being a Silver Age comic book collector. This era lasted from 1956 to roughly 1970. [[wikipedia:Sky Pilot|'Sky Pilot']] * Mile High's alias "Sky Pilot" is an older slang term for a military Chaplain. * "Sky Pilot" is a 1968 song by Eric Burdon & the Animals about a chaplain who blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid or patrol, and then retires to await their return. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee Stan Lee] * When going through customs and asked if he had anything to declare, Le Tueur says "Excelsior!" This is the famous catch phrase of comic book legend Stan Lee. [[wikipedia:Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|'Supernatural']]' (2005-present)' * In the first few seconds of the episode you can see Brock hitting his wrecked car, a direct reference to Supernatural season 5 when Dean Winchester is rebuilding his Impala. [[wikipedia:Tearoom Trade|''Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places]]' (1970)' * Shore Leave's metaphorical armor, in particular the Breastplate of Righteousness, is employed by Laud Humphreys is his book [[wikipedia:Tearoom Trade|''Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places]] to characterize the effort made on the part of upper class men who engage in anonymous sexual encounters with one another to conceal their homosexual activities because they are seen as deviating from social norms. [[wikipedia:The Centurions (TV series)|'The Centurians']]' (1986)' * Holy Diver's suiting up sequence references this animated scifi series. [[wikipedia:Fisherman (comics)|'The Fisherman']] * Go-Fish, the fishing themed aquatic villain, appears to be a take on Aquaman villain The Fisherman. [[wikipedia:Top Gun|''Top Gun]]' (1986)' *Shore Leave and Mile High, with their naval theme, playful nicknames, and homoerotic camaraderie, appear to reference the 1986 film [[wikipedia:Top Gun|''Top Gun]]. [[wikipedia:The Warrior (song)|'The Warrior']]' (1984)' *Sergeant Hatred describes himself as a "warrior" like Patty Smyth, a reference to the hit song she had with the band Scandal. [[wikipedia:Wardrobe malfunction|'Wardrobe malfunction']]' ("nip slip")' * While Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is lying on Brock Samson's bed, preparing herself to subdue/seduce him, she straightens her costume which temporarily causes her right nipple to be exposed, then quickly tucks her breast back into place. This type of "wardrobe malfunction" is commonly referred to as a "nip slip". [[wikipedia:William Westmoreland|'William Westmoreland']] *Dr. Venture calls Brock General West-moron, a reference to American General William Westmoreland. Goofs * After Brock and Le Tueur crash through the window into the motel room you can see that the door chain guard is latched yet Hank is able to open the door and enter the room shortly thereafter. Production Notes * One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a nickname inserted into his credits. For The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I) the credit reads Kimson "Le Tueur" Albert. * Similar to ''Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)'', there is no post-credits scene in this episode. * Dr. Mrs. The Monarch's nip slip was not in the original Adult Swim broadcast and was added to the home video release by the show's creators in response to fans complaints about the amount of male nudity and lack of female nudity on previous season home video releases. References Category:The Venture Bros. episodes Category:2008 television episodes Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Article stubs